This book will show any potential farmer how to start raising livestock and marketing it to the organic, natural lifestyle community that so fervently seeks out these products. You will learn how to start the basic outline for your new small farm, including which livestock to raise, how to build their pens and habitat, and what you will be feeding them to maintain a healthy, organic farm. Read about the basics of animal husbandry, from genetics and breeding to feeding, building locations, and proper health and reproductive care. You will discover how to find yourself the right niche for selling your products and what legalities you must see to, as well as get valuable information about the butchering and processing phase of raising animals for food --

This collection addresses recent research on challenges facing organic animal farming such as more targeted breeding, improved grazing and feed rations, better methods of health and disease management as well as ways of enhancing animal welfare.

By applying the principles of homeopathy to organic livestock production, you can impact the health of animal species in a way that the effects are seen and felt far beyond the patient. Written for both organic farmers and homeopaths, Homeopathy in Organic Livestock Production contains a discussion of common maladies so readers can recognize symptom complexes and take logical steps toward a remedy -- even if a diagnosis is not known. A valuable resource for organic farmers, it also contains the most common homeopathic remedies and their uses for livestock.

This book about organic livestock follows others in this series Organic Farming: an introduction and Organic Farming: crops, fruits and vegetables. The principles of ecology outlined in the introductory book are essential for the success of any organic enterprise and this includes the importance of soil and its continuing improvement because soil is essential to the production of feed for livestock. This book covers some principles of organic livestock farming plus extensive case studies for a range of enterprises such as lamb and beef, dairy, pigs, mussels, turkey, eggs and wool — and many other examples. There is a growing demand for organic produce, and this book explores the value-adding benefits of organic practices in farming, economically and environmentally. With a scientific background and a wide range of real world case studies, this book will help you consider different methods of organic farming and how to implement them. It will show you how to farm in a way that cares for the environment, without using synthetic chemicals. Other titles in this series: Organic Farming: An introduction Organic Farming: Crops, Fruits and Vegetables

Organic Farming is the seed you need to get your organic farm growing. This essential guidebook explains everything you need to know to begin and maintain a healthy, productive, and profitable organic farm, from organic certification to planting crops to marketing your produce. If you’re thinking of starting an organic farm or making the transition to organics, you’re in good company. The market for organic food increases every year, as does the number of organic producers: in the past two decades, the number of organic farms and businesses has more than tripled. And whether you’re growing crops or raising animals, you’ll need some helpful advice as you get started. Organic Farming can help—its pages are full of inspiring and educational wisdom from author Peter V. Fossel, who has farmed organically for more than 25 years. Find out how to farm without pesticides, how to find your way through the rules and regulations surrounding organic certification, and how to develop a marketing strategy. A list of resources also points the way to other books, websites, and organizations that focus on organic farming, including state standards. Organic Farming is the ideal practical handbook to fulfilling your dreams.

Authored by a renowned animal scientist with a peerless reputation in organic livestock nutrition, A Practical Guide to the Feeding of Organic Farm Animals aims to translate the science of feeding organic livestock and distil it into practical guidance for farmers and producers. The latest research is broken down into a practical approach to on-the-farm feeding, providing applied methodology backed up by scientific research. There is also advice on making the transition from conventional to organic farming systems regarding feeding. There are sections covering poultry, pigs, cattle, sheep and goats, reviewing the nutritional requirements of the species, identifying suitable ingredients and feeds, overviewing husbandry techniques and system approaches, providing advice on selecting suitable breeds, and advising on nutrition and its relationship to health with a preventative approach. The final section provides advice on organic nutritional regimes under integrated farming operations making this book an ideal resource for the smallholder farmer as well as traditional and aspiring organic livestock farmers.

Annotation. The rapid growth of organic farming has been among the most remarkable changes in global agriculture in recent decades. However, more attention was initially aid to the crop side of organic systems, and animals are a lower priority in formal research and the development of organic farming. But now, that has changed. There is now greater recognition of the need to understand animal health and welfare better. The purpose of this book is to further the understanding of organic animal husbandry and to demonstrate practical solutions and innovative methods, drawing mainly on research and practical experience with organic farming in Europe.